After nearly eighteen months online, HertsReunited.co.uk has successfully reunited members of the public with over 100 items of lost and stolen property.

The website was instigated by the Police and Crime Commissioner and is operated by Hertfordshire Constabulary and went live in January 2015. It features photos of found and recovered items, as well as a facility for people to report lost property.

The Constabulary takes temporary possession of property which is suspected to have been stolen, but the Force is sometimes unable to locate its true owner. Likewise, often the Force is made aware of property which has been found in Hertfordshire, but the owner is unknown. Users of the website can record items that they have lost or found and search the website to see if Hertfordshire Constabulary is holding their stolen or lost property.

A successful conclusion came in November 2015 when a woman reported she had lost a Louis Vuitton baby changing bag plus contents. Just nine days later it was reported on HertsReunited that the bag had been found. The finder kindly brought the bag to the police station where it was later reunited with the owner.

Another success story occurred in February 2016. A lady reported on HertsReunited that she had lost her platinum engagement ring. She added a photo of the ring to the entry and the loss was posted onto the website. Just under a month later, a report came in on HertsReunited from a member of the public saying that they had found a ring which matched the one reported as lost. The finder brought the ring to Hoddesdon Police Station where it was later reunited with the happy and grateful owner.

The first notable success from the website had come within days of the site going online. Two bike thefts were reported to police by two 18-year-old students from the University of Hertfordshire and another suspected stolen bike was seen for sale on an auction website. Police executed a warrant at an address in Almond Walk, Hatfield, on January 12th, 2015 and recovered ten suspected stolen bikes. Two men were arrested.

All of the bikes were featured on HertsReunited and, as a result, many were successfully reunited with their owners.

Commissioner David Lloyd said: “HertsReunited was an idea in my first Police and Crime Plan, ‘Everybody’s Business’, to improve a service to the public and it is heartening to see that it has been a success.

“Losing a valued item of property can be a distressing experience so I wanted to make sure that people have the best chance of being reunited. Equally, it can be daunting to find something when you have no idea who it belongs to but suspect the person who lost it is very worried. The scheme ensures that more people can have their lost or stolen property returned to them and I am confident its success will continue.”

Superintendent Shirley Sargent said: "HertsReunited has generated numerous success stories in the first year or so since it was launched.

“The website increases our chances of reuniting people with missing and stolen property and we are delighted that members of the public have recovered items that are important to them.

"As well as the facility for the public to report and claim lost and found property, our strong interest is in recognising the rightful owners of property that the police have seized and that we suspect is stolen. This will help to guarantee that offenders are brought to justice for their crimes."

Items may be advertised on the website by Hertfordshire Constabulary for around 30 days or an appropriate period until the true owner is identified. The website is controlled and managed through the current Property Management System (PMS) used by the Force.